Hasta La Motion!

Director David Lobser refashions a bit of Alice in Wonderland in this charming music video for +/-’s “Unsung.” Kissed with subtle CG, the visuals are as gentle and unassuming as the song itself. David did a great job balancing the beauty of leading lady Jessica Stoller with the folksy charm of her surroundings.

This video touches on something we’ve been mumbling about here at Motionographer Headquarters: We’re in the midst of a slow but steady renaissance of the music video. It’s not being driven by labels or even by a renewed interest in the creation of music videos. (Directors and bands have never stopped making music videos, regardless of who was watching them.)

What’s changed are the means of distribution (YouTube, Vimeo, etc.) and promotion (Facebook, Twitter, etc.). The game has fundamentally shifted away from a top-down, broadcast model to a bottom-up, grassroots model.

This is a huge boon to bands (and potentially to labels). The old promotional model was to force a video or song onto the air in the hopes that by throwing a wide enough net, you’d catch a few buyers. Now, videos are passed like hot potatoes from friend to friend—and friends are much more inclined to pay attention to each other than to a television station that only seems marginally interested in their lives.

The result is a high viewer-to-fan conversion rate without the associated costs of broadcasting. Some music labels, like Universal Music Group, have figured out a way to make it work for them; others are a bit slower to catch on. Regardless, bands are benefiting from the direct, trackable exposure that web distributed videos are giving them.

I realize this is all old news to you. I’m preaching to the choir. But what seems to be happening is still exciting: After being estranged by MTV and VH1, music videos are reentering the mainstream via the web. It’s something everyone predicted years ago, but now it seems to actually be happening. Hooray!

Thanks to Kristian Mercado for the tip on the video.

Credits

Song: Unsung
Album: Xs on Your Eyes
Director: David Lobser
Executive Producer: Steve Choo
Production: Jonny Fego, Meredith Binder
Production Company: My Active Driveway / Little Sister Productions
Matte Painting/Design: Kristian Mercado

Actors:
Girl: Jessica Stoller
Crew: Alice Hoff Hair/ Make up.
Chapin Hall/ Grip Swing
Christopher Studly/ Gaffer
Ian Mcalpin/ 1st AC
PA: Zach Lewis
DP / Camera: Ian Bloom

Edit: Steve Choo
Animation / Compositing /Chi Peng, Matt Monson
3d / David Lobser, Gwen Murray, David Avetisov, Clay Budin

Posted on Motionographer

David Lobser: +/- “Unsung”

Inspired by the “Sorcerers Apprentice,” Motion Theory and Director Mathew Cullen just completed “A Natural Symphony” for McCain’s chips. This poetic tale of a farmer’s relationship with his land shows him conducting the elements to grow the perfect crops.

The piece’s rich cinematography and subtle effects have become a staple in Motion Theory’s work. Its dynamic choreography should also be no surprise — from the director and studio that brought you the best of the HP Hands campaign and other choreography-driven pieces like Adele’s “Chasing Pavements”.

Yes, I know this isn’t too far from tails of Maestro. But, I think there are enough conceptual and visual differences for the glory of this piece to remain untainted.

Credits

Agency: Beattie, McGuinness & Bungay
Creative Directors: Trevor Beattie, Bil Bungay
Creative: Pat Burns, Gavin McGrath
Producer: Lucy Swallow

Production Company: Motion Theory, Rokkit
Director: Mathew Cullen
DP: Claudio Miranda
Executive Producers: Javier Jimenez (Motion Theory), Luke Jacobs (Rokkit)
Line Producer: Tracy Hauser

VFX Company: Motion Theory
Senior Art Director: Kaan Atilla
VFX Supervisor: Bryan Godwin
Producer: Amber Ventris
Compositing Supervisor: Stuart Cripps
Lighting Lead: Charles Paek
Lead Technical Director: John Tumlin
Rigging, FX Lead: Jesse Carlson
3D Artists: Ben Grangereau, Na Song, Jeffrey Arnold, Michael Clarke, Mauro Contaldi, Shiv Dholakia, Chris Logan, Hector Ortiz, Sam Sparks
Designers: Angela Zhu, Leanne Dare, Jenny Ko, Peggy Oei
Compositors: Andrew Ashton, Matt Motal (1.1 VFX), Deke Kincaid, Danny Koenig, Mario Peixoto, Rob Winfield
Matte Painters: Amy Paskow, Ram Bhat, Alan Sonneman
Post Production Manager: Sheri Patterson
Post Production Assistants: Rebecca Lindberg, Allyssa Allain

Editorial Company: String
Editor: Mark Hoffman
Assistant Editor: Greg Kim
Editorial Coordinator: Peter Nelson
Finishing: Danny Yoon (1.1 VFX)
Colorist: Siggy Ferstl (RiOT)

Music: Adrian Sutton
Producer: Blaze Music

Posted on Motionographer

Motion Theory Conducts A Natural Symphony

LA-based Capacity proved their ability to think big and follow through with their breakthrough NBC rebrand back in 2006. Since then, they’ve been kicking out ambitious projects with consistent attention to detail and huggable charm.

The latest jewel in their crown is a massive rebrand for Cartoon Network built around Noods, blank Dunny-esque figures created by the crew at Kidrobot. Props to CN for dreaming up such a clever, collaborative concept.

Capacity’s CN montage starts off in a minimal white space but builds in complexity and vibrancy as more characters, environments and seasons are introduced. My favorite stretch is the Halloween segment, with its moonlit figures and cute sight gags. I also love Yoda reducing General Grievous to a puddle of paint—a clever way to deconstruct the underlying concept of the rebrand.

The frenetic soundtrack (also created by Capacity) tinges the entire montage with a playful 8-bit tone and moves things forward with a cheery optimism befitting such a grand undertaking. Nice job all around!

Posted on Motionographer

Capacity: Cartoon Network Rebrand

Universal Everything kicks off a series of Art Films they are creating for Nokia with this beautiful piece directed by Matt Pyke with the style and animation created by graphic 3d master Maxim Zhestkov. Typical advertising turned into art by Universal Everything, this looks to become another Advance Beauty with more spots on the way (Pyke is looking for “3d animation genius” support for future films if you are up to the task).

HD version here

See the remaining films from Carl Burgess, Field and SHFT here.

Posted on Motionographer

Universal Everything: Art Films for Nokia

Gianluca Fallone from Argentina is moving to London